Daniel Wiffen seventh in World 400m final in Doha

Ranked ninth in the event, Wiffen finished third in his heat but though he was fourth after 100m in the final, he faded to seventh in 3:46.65, well outside his personal best of 3:44.35.

Woomin Kim (Korea) won the gold medal in 3:42.71.

Meanwhile, Ireland’s women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team will learn their Olympic fate on Sunday night. Erin Riordan, Grace Davison, Maria Godden, and Victoria Catterson clocked 3:43.95 in the heats to finish tenth overall. But an Irish team which included Riordan and Catterson along with Mona McSharry and Danielle Hill, have a time of 3:41.75 from the 2023 World championships in Fukuoka which keeps them ranked in the top 16 needed for Olympic qualification.

Their fate now lies with Slovenia, who would take that crucial sixteenth place if they are quicker than 3:41.75 in Sunday night’s final.

Darragh Greene, swimming the 100m breaststroke, was 20th overall, after he touched in 1:00.70, just outside the semi-final places.

In the 50m Butterfly heats, Shane Ryan was just off his best of 23.67, clocking 23.83 for 26th place overall. Ryan returns on Wednesday for his main event, the 100m freestyle.

For most of the Irish squad, securing qualification for the Paris Olympics will be the primary focus. Wiffen (400m, 800m and 1500m) has already qualified for Paris as has Mona McSharry and Ellen Walshe.